Putin’s Vexing Kazakh Ally Stages Ballot After Riots, Purges
- Incumbent Tokayev secures seven-year mandate in landslide win
- Critics question efforts to reform system of vested interests
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Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev secured a fresh term with a landslide win in Sunday’s vote, capping months of political high drama that started with violent protests he called a coup attempt and included his open defiance of Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
Preliminary results announced by the Central Elections Commission showed Tokayev, 69, winning 81.3% of the ballot. The option “against all” gained more support than any of the other candidates, none of whom received more than 3.5% of votes.